Hey everybody, I've got a panel in this year's panel picker for SXSW Interactive 2014, and Gaming Trend will be well represented by myself and Ron in the panel: Press Start to Begin: UX and Video Games

Quote

'Press start to begin' is the message gamers have been greeted with since the early days of interactive entertainment. Hitting that start button is typically the player’s first interaction with a game after putting in the cartridge or disk, the moment they go from passive observer to active participant. As the number of gamers and the devices they play them on grows, game designers and developers are starting to look in the direction of User Experience to help them craft interactions that not only make it easer for users to play their games, but to enhance the experience of the game itself. This panel of game journalists and game designers will talk about how UX has impacted the game industry, what developers are looking for out of UX, and how UX can take games to even greater heights, offering examples of games that are already there, and maybe a few that could use a little help. - See more at: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/22949#sthash.IQyYkoot.dpuf

Besides Ron and myself, I've confirmed two additional panelists:

David Sinclair- UX Designer at Crytek

and

Richard 'Lord British' Garriott of Portalarium

Needless to say, Ron and I are both very excited for this opportunity (as are David and Richard), but we need your help! The panel picker is only a part of the selection process, but it's a very important one. If you like the panel idea and want to help Ron and I represent Gaming Trend at SXSWi, vote us up and leave a comment! Voting ends Sept 6th!

Tell "Dick" to Bring Back Tabula RasaTM! But this time with a recognizable IP behind it. Something everyone loves. Furbies or Teletubbies? Maybe both.

Telefurbies, got it. I wonder if that game is a sore spot for him...

I've read him chat about it a bit in some past interviews. I think in retrospect the game's development was just way too expensive (it wasn't using the Unreal engine etc., as I recall, it was a new game engine from the ground up, ala Hellgate: London) for it to survive with only a modest subscriber base. And 2007 was really before F2P generally took over the MMO market.